16 September 2007

Cargo Bikes and Matching Fashion

Once again, a public service announcment:Whilst riding about in Copenhagen, please try to match your bike with your clothes, or vice versa, wherever possible.Thank you.

The bike in the photo is one of many Danish cargo bikes brands. In this case, a Christiania bike. Popular around Scandinavia and Northern Europe.

Lately I'm often reading on blogs about Bakfiets - the Dutch cargo bike - because they have recently gotten a foothold in America. Indeed, it seems that most of the Americans who write about them seem to think that Bakfiets is the only cargo bike in the world, merely because it's the first cargo bike they've seen and they have no history of cargo bikes.

While the Dutch have a long history of bike design - with some cool makes - and are the only real rivals to the Danish bike design tradition, it is only fair to provide a broader perspective regarding the cargo bike market in Europe.

Kilometres cycled by Copenhageners so far today

Copenhagenize.com is the blog of Copenhagenize Design Company. Online since 2007 and highlighting the cycling life in Copenhagen and around the world.

40 years ago Copenhagen was just as car-clogged as anywhere else but now 41% of the population arriving at work or education do so on bicycles, from all over the Metro area. 56% of Copenhageners themselves use bicycles each day. They all use over 1000 km of bicycle lanes in Greater Copenhagen for their journeys. Copenhagenizing is possible anywhere.